In 2023, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) recorded a total of 399 disasters related to natural hazards. These events resulted in 86,473 fatalities and affected 93.1 million people. The economic losses amounted to US$202.7 billion. The 2023 earthquake in Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic was the most catastrophic event …
In Ladakhi, lango khel means conquering the highest point of a pass in the mountains. In Ladakhi schools, it means the matriculation (class X) examination. From 1947 to 1998, matriculation results in Leh district hovered between 0-5 per cent. The reasons are not difficult to fathom. Children grew up speaking …
Life in a cold desert is harsh and exacting. You need enormous amounts of energy for everything, but there are very few sources. Getting electricity to light up houses in Leh is no easy task. About two-thirds of the power supply in the summer comes from diesel generator sets (DG) …
It is widely accepted that panchayati raj is shaping up much better in Leh as compared to other districts of J&K.; The first real panchayat elections in the state were held only in May 2001. Even then, modalities of decentralisation of power to elected village representatives were not issued. After …
The most remarkable aspect of the developmental challenges in Leh district is the small margin for error. Resources are highly limited. Ladakh's ecology is fragile. Unbridled tourism will imperil the pastures of Changthang that support the pashmina goats and the Changpa nomads. The good news from Leh is that the …
What has been the impact of the Public Distribution System (PDS) on Ladakhi agriculture? The subsidy culture has definitely killed local agriculture in Ladakh. What international trade distortions are doing to Indian agriculturethe subsidy system is doing to Ladakhi agriculture. It is exactly the same as industrialised countries dumping their …
Padma Wangyal, 29, is quite an exception. His grandfather pioneered the cooperative societies movement in Ladakhi agriculture. In a region where the average landholding is a mere 1.38 hectares, Wangyal's family owns about 20 hectares. Wangyal attended school and college in Delhi. Like most young Ladakhis, he dreamt of joining …
function openfact(){ var popurl="image/20031130/60.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=700,height=430,scrollbars=yes") } Click here to see graphs • Key economies outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 1 (oecd), now account for 17 per cent of global research and development (r&d;) expenditure • In 2001, China spent us $60 billion (bn) on r&d;, placing it …
Ladakh was opened to tourism in 1971. Since then the tourist inflow has increased several times over (see graph: Welcome to Ladakh). Though Ladakh gets more foreign tourists, domestic tourists have increased recently. The biggest tourist activity is trekking and jeep safaris; the biggest tourist attractions of Ladakh are its …
while a joint parliamentary committee probes into the details of alleged pesticide residues in aerated drinks, researchers have found that rats fed with Coca-cola developed ulcers and inflammation in their intestines, besides having damaged liver cells. The researchers, from the Thiruvananthapuram-based Kerala University, conducted numerous experiments to compare the beneficial …
Electronic grocery shopping, whereby customers place their orders via the internet, has a potential to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (ghgs). A research done in Finland shows that emissions decreased by 87 per cent in the study area (Helsinki) when groceries were bought online, as compared to the general situation
When Faridabad resident Rajendra Dhankar's eight-month-old Santro began to belch white smoke like a run-down truck, he rushed to the vehicle's manufacturer, Hyundai. What had caused the engine to so wheeze was heavily adulterated fuel. The company replaced the piston and the ring. Dhankar's car was as good as new …
A wide variety of low priced fuels and solvents in the market are an immediate enticement to greed. High taxes on petrol make it vulnerable to adulteration with cheap solvents and naphtha. Diesel is easily mixed with subsidised kerosene and cheaper LDO. Says Rita Pandey, Fellow, National Institute of Public …
• Developing economies of the East are racing past their counterparts in the West. From 1974 to 2000, East Asia’s gross domestic product (gdp) grew at an average rate of 6.3 per cent annually in comparison to Latin America’s 2.8 per cent • Three indicators
researchers have recently discovered that one of the foremost victims of global warming is Africa's Sahel region. As per their study, the devastating drought that plagued the region in the 1970s and 1980s was caused by an increase in sea surface temperature, and not environmental degradation as was previously implied. …
Towards the end of 2001, as part of an ongoing public interest litigation on air pollution in Delhi, the apex court took notice of the ugly business of adulteration. It has repeatedly pointed out the merit of the CNG programme in culling this menace. But the Union of India, in …
the impacts of large-scale destruction in forests are easily visible. But what does one observe when the disturbance is at a small scale? Birds. The Environmental Studies Group of the Delhi-based Council for Social Development did just that at Sarsika Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan. They have come up with interesting results …
Ten Indian states have been pulled up by the Supreme Court (SC) for neglecting its orders on the inclusion of environment as a subject in school curricula. Those reprimanded are Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Jharkhand. A bench comprising Justice …
• Humanitarian aid tends to favour high-profile emergencies at the expense of less visible long-term suffering. Forced migration is one such invisible disaster • Forced migrants could be refugees, internally displaced persons, environmental migrants, development-induced migrants, human traffickers, and economic migrants • According to the United Nations, over 175 million …
How do pests select which plants to attack in the field? By smelling odours plants emit, believe most entomologists. And an entire industry of pesticides has evolved around this principle, to ensure pests can't get that appetising whiff of the plant they want; insecticides are made to confuse them. But …
